Ange
by Natsumi
Summary: Another one of those soc type ficcies on Kurei. Yeah I only got around to posting my fics now.


Ange: A Flame of Recca Fanfic

**Ange**

  
  


Author's Note: The -'s mark the beginning and end of the flashback. The story and characters of Flame of Recca are not mine, and the only purpose of this story is to entertain...or more likely depress. Everything except for the flashbacks, they're inner thoughts, in first person perspective. Pardon the inconsistencies of the story (are there actually boars in Japan? who says they had to be in Japan at that time...) but I couldn't exactly ask around at the time, since if I had asked, then you would know it was me who wrote this, then where would we be? 

Falling.Whatishappening?I'mfalling...into eternity?Ifeel...nothing.LikeI'mwrappedinasilkencocoon,safefrom everything,Likeachildinamother'swomb... 

But that's a lie! Never in my life have I ever felt that way! Not one single moment, did I feel that security. All I've ever experienced was pain. Suffering. Endless agony. 

What is happening? Why am I thinking like this? I'm enveloped in darkness. Where am I? What happened? 

Bullets...whizzing through the air like merciless blurs of hatred. Cutting through me, and all that crimson blood...and then falling...and sinking...into oblivion. 

Does that mean...I am dead? Strange I never imagined death to be like this. I always thought...after all that I had done, I would be fated to be damned and to burn in hell. Away from my sweet rose. I always feared this death, because I knew that in it...she and I would never be together. 

I like this better somehow. No pain. nothing but this blessed numbness. 

Raiha...Neon...Joker...I wonder how they are now. Do they know I am gone? Will they continue to work for Mori Kouran? They are all that is left of my Uruha...the only thing that was ever mine. 

How strange. Shouldn't I be seeing some sort of light now? Maybe dead relatives beckoning to me? I guess not. I suppose that only works for people going to heaven. Was that...what my mother saw when she died? 

My mother. Bitterness swamped me, as I dimly registered with surprise that I could still feel. My mother. I don't even know how she died. Did she die during the attack on the village? Was she trapped in the pathetic excuse for a house we had, dying in flames...flames I could control and produce? Or was she pierced by the arrow or a sword of an enemy? Or did she even live to the attack? They kept everything from me, those Hokage ninjas. They never told me how you were. Damn them. They all hated you mother. Hated us. For what? For that mistake Recca's birth? Because he was born and had the flame...it made me worthless. I was nothing...you were nothing. They hated us, despised us, loathed the very sight of us. Worse...that whore of Ohka's...she pitied us. But that didn't matter mother. I had you, you cared for me, and with you I never felt like I was nothing. I wasn't the evil child, the one who was to be the next leader but was found unworthy for that position. I was only Kurei, your son. 

----------   
A stone hit the five-year-old boy's temple, causing blood to trickle from the point of impact. "If it isn't our future leader." an eight-year-old boy sneered at the younger child. "Oh I forgot. You were found unworthy. The demon-child who would have led us to our downfall!" The other children around him started to laugh. Laugh so hard that Kurei began to imagine that they would explode from it. He could only hope. He turned and tried to leave, but another boy, this time nine years of age, grabbed his collar and hurled him on the ground. "Where do you think you're going, we're not done with you yet!" he said to him, his voice reflecting his glee at his victim. The child only turned his head away and started to get up again. The older boy grew angry. "Think you're too good for us, eh demon-child?" He grabbed Kurei's arm and yanked at it roughly, sending his fist into his cheek. The other boy bit his lip so as not to cry out of pain. Why did they do this? He once asked his mother. 

"It's because they envy us Kurei." Reina knelt before him and wrapped her arms around his bruised, skinny frame. It pained her to see her beloved son, with cuts and bruises all over his body, trying to hide his pain from showing in his eyes. And she could do nothing for him. She could not even support herself anymore. She could not feed him, his clothes were worn and torn. Hatred flowed through her, her lips tightening as she embraced the feeling that had already become her constant companion through the days. She could only offer her precious child advice and her love. "Kurei, we used to be Ohka's family. We had everything they wanted, respect and a life so much better than theirs." She said to him, looking deep into his eyes so that he may learn this lesson well. "But since Kagerou...and that bastard child came, we have been cast out. And now...and now they look down on us, the people they once envied...because they feel better...and superior by putting down the people whom they hated. They could not put us down then...we were somebody! But now...now they think they can." She spoke to him urgently now. "Kurei. Remember this. They may think they are superior to us, but we will always, always be better than them! Never forget that Ku-" she broke off into a fit of coughs. Kurei began to worry. His mother was ill. Very ill. But nobody in the village cared. 

One particularly painful blow forced Kurei out of his thoughts, as he curled up his body to defend himself from the punches and kicks. Even the young girls were taunting him. But he would endure it all. He was better than them. He was better than these children who called him a demon, yet failed to see that they themselves were the evil. His ears caught a statement from what looked like a ten-year-old boy. "If he's a demon then what is his mother? A witch?" The children laughed uproariously at that. His blood surging fiercely, Kurei shot up with a speed that startled all and tackled the one who had insulted his mother. "DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT HER THAT WAY!" Kurei screamed at him, his face showing his great fury. He fisted his hand and slammed it into the older boy's face. The children started shouting and he could hear some of the girls crying and running away. "Mommy, mommy! The demon child is going crazy and attacking us! Help us!" 

Two hands grabbed him and pulled him off the other boy as he struggled fiercely against the hands, he clawed at them, trying to make them let go. "Ow! The demon brat is hurting me!" A voice above him shouted in pain. 'Good. Feel it, the pain you all inflict on me, on my mother' he thought, as he fought savagely. He was thrown roughly onto the dusty ground, his breath knocked out of him by the force of the throw and his landing. "Damned demon. I'll beat the evil out of you." and the pain roared up at him again, red light flashing before his eyes, then black. 

The boy stirred to consciousness and he slowly stood up, trying not to cry from the pain all over his body. "Don't think you're so high and mighty anymore. You're not going to be our leader, Recca is." he heard one of the children still there mutter. He ignored them as he slowly walked back to the ramshackle pile of wood they called his house. He swayed with each step as he struggled to remain conscious. 'I won't let them see I'm weak.' he thought, somewhat surprised he still had the strength to have any conviction in anything. 'I'm better than them. Better than them. Better than them." Only this thought kept him standing, giving him the fuel he needed for this hatred that was now burning inside of him. The seed of hatred Reina had planted within him. " 

"I don't want your food or your pity! Leave me alone Kagerou!" he heard his mother shout. Kurei stopped and gazed at his mother, who was glaring at the other woman standing in front of her. She threw down the food and turned away. The other woman, who Kurei knew to be Kagerou, turned and walked away herself, her face showing sadness. "Sad? Why is she sad?" he whispered to himself. He walked into his house and saw his mother was bent over, coughing. She seemed to be whispering something to herself and for a few moments Kurei just stood there, looking at her, the one person who had loved him, the one person who thought he was worth something. "Mother." he said, Reina turned and walked towards him. Tears slid down her face as her body was bent forward, her hands holding his shoulders. "She may pretend to want to help me but I know...but I know that inside...she pities me! Pities me!" Reina sobbed. "Me! We would have had a bright future. You would have been the next leader of the Hokage clan...if Recca hadn't been born...you wouldn't have had to suffer." she started to laugh hysterically. "All I ever wanted was for you to have a good future. But no, Kagerou had to take that from me." her body trembled as her laughter dissolved into coughs. "Recca should never have been born." 

'Recca? If Recca hadn't been born...mother wouldn't have to suffer?' Kurei thought. "Mother." his quiet voice made Reina lift her head and look at him. "If Recca was dead...we wouldn't have to be in so much hardship?" Kurei asked. Reina bowed her head and nodded. And the boy knew what he had to do. For his mother's sake.   
---------- 

What is this? What is this pain stabbing into me? I want to curl up my body like I did...when I was a child but i can't. Why does it hurt so much? Why does life always have to be so hard for me? Will pain always be my constant companion? Why couldn't they just...leave me alone? 

Recca's face...blurring. A baby, sleeping quietly. Flashes of red, a blade raised in darkness. Screams. Being taken away. Mother it hurts...mother I'm so afraid. Why are they taking me away? Where are you mother? I'm trapped, I can't get out of this...this cage they put me in. Are you alright mother? Are you alright? Are you still sick? Who is taking care of you mother? MOTHER! 

----------   
The boy was running. Running through the streets, trying to avoid the two men chasing after him. What kind of men were they? They wanted a boy? But didn't men want girls, and not young boys? What did they want with him. His face was flushed from exertion, his heart pounding from fear. He could remember another time when he felt like this. He was trapped, and not in an open space. Fire raged all around him as he screamed for help. But no one came. No one heard. A piece of burning wood fell from the roof towards the frightened boy. He screamed and his hand was out to cover his face. 'I'm going to die.' the boy thought. 'Will it hurt? Mother? Will it hurt?" 

"HELP ME!" the scream was torn from his throat as he felt the heat of the flames near his face. But the flame never touched him. is own flame...a dark color, not the brilliant red of the fire that threatened to kill him. His flame had protected him. 

A twig snapped behind the boy, very close. Terrified the boy poured more speed into his running. He could hear the men's heavy breathing, as clearly as he could hear his own. They were coming close. He saw a street and without looking, darted across it, when a horn sounded, shattering the quiet of the night. Momentarily the boy was blinded by lights, but the boy caught the frightened face of the driver who swerved to avoid him...but too late. The car slammed into the body of young Kurei, sending him through the night air. 'At least...death would hurt less than life.' was his final thought before he plunged into the velvety embrace of darkness.   
---------- 

I thought that was the end of it, the end of a life that was filled with nothing but pain. But it wasn't. It was the end of my life as Kurei, the forsaken son of Ohka, the demon child, the one with the cursed flame. And it was the beginning of my life as Kurei, son of Tsukino and Mori Kouran. Tsukino. Tsukino loved me. She raised me like I was truly her own child. It was their car that had hit me. And Tsukino brought me to her home, and cared for me. But Mori...Mori was a different story. Whenever I was around him, I always felt that he didn't see me as a human being. He only saw me...as maybe a puppy his wife had found lost in the rain, and brought home, but had to be put down. Or maybe even less than that. I don't think I was ever a living being to him. I was an it. I think he was only calculating my worth in the future. I never loved him, not the way I cared for Tsukino. In fact...I think I hate him. But not back then. I was still so young. And i only feared him. 

I wanted to help my new mother. To show her that I was worth caring for. To show everyone, that this time, I was worth something. That I would be able to care for those I love. That this time I would not fail. 

----------   
"AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEE!" a scream pierced the air, causing the seven-year-old boy to jump. That voice it was... "Tsukino." he heard Kouran speak behind him. "Go see what's the matter." Kouran ordered his men. They were out in one of Kouran's hunting lodges. Tsukino had broken away from the group saying she had left her hat back at the house and would return there to get it. Kurei was already running towards the source of the sound, and then the boy realized that Kouran wasn't moving at all. He wasn't even going to check on his own wife? 

"HELP ME!!!!" at the scream Kurei stopped thinking of Kouran and just sped towards the woman he now considered mother. A huge boar was snorting and pawing at the ground in front of a terrified Tsukino. Without a second thought Kurei ran between the boar and his mother. 'I won't lose anyone else. This time, I'll be able to protect her!' he thought fiercely as he stared at the boar which looked back at him with beady eyes, snorting in rage. He felt a hand pushing him backwards and he landed on the ground slightly away from where Tsukino was standing. "Kurei get away from here!" Tsukino shouted, as the boar charged towards her. "No!" his eyes went blank in fear for her, and his hand was stretched out. Flames erupted around his hand, as all around him the people gasped at the sight of the boy with fire burning from his fingers. The flames shot through the air and into the boar, engulfing it with the eerie black fire. Silence fell, broken only by the squeals of pain of the boar as everyone stared at Kurei, awed and fearful, at the power he had displayed. Tsukino grabbed the boy and hugged him to her tightly. "Kurei...don't ever do that again. I couldn't bear it if you were hurt because of me." she whispered to him, her tears dropping onto the boy whose heart began to warm. Behind them, hidden in the shadow of some trees. Mori Kouran began to smile.   
---------- 

The following years...they were heaven and hell rolled into one. Kouran...Kouran tried to make me as powerful as he could. He would beat me regularly, saying it would strengthen my spirit and body. It certainly strengthened my hatred towards him. Tsukino did her best to care for me, to replace the pain with love. But she was weak herself. Once she tried to talk Kouran into lightening his methods. He beat her as well. From then on, I did my best, hoping that if he would beat anyone, it would be me...and not her. Often I wondered why didn't we just leave him? We had each other. I was strong enough now. I could protect her. We didn't have to suffer Kouran anymore. But she never could leave him. Did she love him? I don't know. But she needed him. That I could never understand. And because she needed him, she stayed. And because of her, I stayed too. But I never stopped...trying to convince her to leave him. 

----------   
The young man walked through the woods, his mind lost in thought. He and Tsukino had argued again last night. As always they had argued over Tsukino's loyalty to Kouran. 

"Why don't you just leave him?" Kure shouted in one of his rare bouts of emotion. Kouran had taught him well. He rarely showed his feelings to anyone except tsukino anymore. Nothing could cause him to be angry anymore. Except when it came to his mother. 

"I already told you. We've talked about this over and over. I can't leave him." Tsukino's voice in contrast was quiet...resigned and defeated. "We are married. And I take my vows seriously." 

"Vows? To God? Or to the devil more like it." Kurei said angrily. 

Tsukino's hand swung up, but stopped just before it hit Kurei's cheek. "Kurei just stop it." Tsukino said sharply. "He is your father. You must not speak of him that way." 

"He's not my father! My father is-" he stopped...a man who had thrown him aside, due to his cursed flame. A man who had ignored his wife and first son. A man who had disrespected his first family so much that he plainly showed how much he preferred his second. Ohka. The bastard who had made his mother miserable. just like Kouran had made Tsukino miserable. 

Kurei's fist tightened at the memory. A father...it seemed like he would never find one. Kurei was pulled from his thoughts when he nearly tripped over a root of a tree. He gazed around him, surprised. A garden? out here? He'd never seen this place before. He had an urge to bury himself within the fragrant blossoms. That somehow, their sweet scent would erase the stench of his painful memories. He sat down among them and returned to thinking. 

'There has to be a way to convince Tsukino to leave Kouran.' he thought, his hand reaching out to absently grasp a stem of a flower and pull on it. Unconsciously, he began to pull all the other flowers around him, to relieve the turmoil in his mind. 

"YOU MONSTER!" a girl's voice startled Kurei. A pebble hit him, followed by another. "How dare you destroy my flowers like that!" A young girl was running towards him, her face flushed with fury. "You-you jerk! Who do you think you are, just waltzing here like that! this is private property you know!" Another pebble hit Kurei in the face before he gathered himself enough to duck another. "But-" his protest was smothered when she threw a pile of grass at him. As Kurei struggled to clear his vision and remove the grass from all over him, a punch landed squarely in his stomach and he bent forward. "Don't EVER come here again! And don't EVER pick my flowers again!" the girl shouted again. She punched him again this time in the shoulder. Kurei had finally removed the grass from his face and he caught the girl's fist which was aimed at his nose. "Wait." his commanding voice made the girl pause. but only for a second. She kicked at his shins and began to struggle, trying to free her hand from his grasp. "What do you think you're doing? Let go of me!" she yelled. "If you don't let go of me, I'll scream bloody murder and do it for real!" 

"No-please calm down." Kurei ducked a wild punch she swung at him. "I said calm down!" he grabbed her other arm and held them tightly, forcing her to stop struggling. "Miss, I'm sorry about your flowers...I was...thinking and I didn't notice what I was doing." She just glared at him. "Now...I'm going to let you go, and we'll talk about this...rationally." She nodded and Kurei released her arms. He had taken a step back when the girl suddenly hurled herself at him. He was thrown backwards and they both landed on the ground. She began to pummel him with her fists. Kurei covered his face with his hands, trying to speak. "Hey-Stop-I said-Come on-I said I was sorry!" 

"You think sorry will bring back those flowers you destroyed?!" she kept punching him, when the absurdity of the situation finally caught up with him. This girl was beating him up for destroying her flowers, and he, who had the power to incinerate her was meekly being cowed. His laughter surprised the girl on top of him and finally she moved off and sat on the ground. Kurei just laughed and laughed. he hadn't laughed in what felt like years. Maybe he'd never laughed before. And now he was laughing because this girl just beat him up over her flowers. It felt good, and clean. It felt like the laughter was slowly erasing the hurt inside him. When he finally quieted down the girl looked at him and said. "Are you insane then?" 

This caused for another fit of laughter. "No." Kurei finally said. "Then why did you start laughing for no particular reason?" she inquired her face bland. "Did you find the idea of being beaten up amusing?" 

"Yes-No...oh never mind." Kurei said as he got up. He held out his hand towards the girl and when she hesitated he rolled his eyes. "You may have beaten me up, but that doesn't mean I'm going to return the favor so quickly." he said, grinning. "I'd wait until night then I'll attack. You'll never know what hit you." When she only stuck her tongue out at him, he started laughing again, completely delighted and charmed by her. "I'd think you would be more of a gentleman than that." she said to him. He smiled. "My male dignity was offended." 

"More like your ego was deflated." she stood up and dusted herself off. At the sight of her, looking so disheveled he started laughing again. "What now?" she sad, annoyed. "Y-you look like..one of those swamp things, your hair all messy like that with straw mixed in." 

"Well you don't look like Prince Charming yourself, Mr. Model-for-GQ's-don't-look-like-this." she shot back. She reached up to pluck a piece of grass from his hair. Her face was so close to his, his heart suddenly started beating faster. What was this? A blush tinted her cheeks as she drew back. She turned and started walking away from Kurei. He finally got a good look at her, before he had been busy defending himself from her. Her hair was long, framing a lovely face, with porcelain skin and a lovely mouth. Her eyes...were like gems shining brilliantly, with passion. Kurei was surprised at himself. Since when did he start thinking like that? Like some poet, or a dandy. He saw that she was having trouble walking due to the long, heavy skirt she was wearing. "You started a fight while wearing a skirt? You must be very confident in your fighting abilities." he called out to her. She stopped and glanced back at him, grinning impishly. "Oh sure, I should have just tapped you on the shoulder and said ever so politely "Excuse me monsieur, may you please stay here while I change into something more suitable so I can beat you up? How was I supposed to know you weren't a lunatic?" 

Her smile captivated him. He'd never met anyone like her before. "How do you know I'm not?" At that her smile vanished and she glanced away again. 

"I know you're not." her voice was soft. "You're not a lunatic, you're Kurei." 

"You know who I am?" he was surprised. "Yes." was her quiet reply. She started walking quickly. Was she trying to avoid him? 

"Wait! What's your name?" he was constantly surprising himself nowadays. "It's Kurenai." she said without looking over her shoulder. 

Kurenai...   
------------ 

Kurenai, the only girl I ever loved. And yes, how I loved her. Even that first time we met, i knew she had my heart. She had treated me like any normal person. No one had ever treated me like that. Everyone else either fawned over me or abused me. Everyone else saw me as a tool, not a human being with a heart that could be hurt. Kouran had thought he had destroyed my heart, but she gave it back to me. To her I was worth something. She listened to me, to what I felt. She encouraged me and gently rebuked me when I was in the wrong. For that time I spent with her, nothing could hurt me. As long as she believed in me, I knew I could do anything. As long as I had her. Mori Kouran had beaten what was left of my humanity out of me. But she helped me find that spark of life again. 

She taught me the meaning of being alive. 

She was everything to me. 

------------   
"Kurei...why do you act like that?" her voice was hesitant and soft, the way it always became whenever she was bringing up a topic she thought was sensitive to him. "What do you mean?" he asked. "You're always...so cold to everyone else. But with me...when we're alone...you act so different." she said. 

"I know you must have had a really terrible time, that much I do understand...but why do you act like this?" her words tumbled out. "And I've seen how you fight while you train. Your face...your eyes...they're so full of pain, of anger and of hate. It...frightens me sometimes." she admitted. She buried her face in her hands, trying not to cry. She could never tell him...how much it hurt her to see him like that. She only wanted to see him happy, but that was a part of him she was afraid she couldn't heal. A hand rested on her shoulder, and Kurei turned her to face him. She buried her face into his shoulder as she cried. Cried because she loved him so much that it hurt. Cried because of the hate that she knew was just seething beneath his calm surface. "Shhhh." he murmured into her hair. He held her in his arms, savoring the moment of being so close to her. 

"Kurenai....as you know I've had a...life that wasn't very ordinary. And I'm sorry that the hate inside me frightens you. I...don't know..." this hate is part of me already. My heart is so full of it...that sometimes I wonder if i will explode from it. But my heart is filled with something else now. You. "How can two such opposite things exist in the same place?" he whispered. Kurenai lifted her face and looked at him. "What?" Kurei looked down into her eyes and shook his head. "This hate...is within me. Maybe people think that...the person who hates doesn't now how destructive it is. But we do. I-I'm so full of it that I have to let it out. Even if I know that it's wrong and that it hurts me. Because I know of no other way to remove it." he shook his head. "I'm going daft." Kurenai giggled. "What?" 

"You said daft." she said in a mock-English accent. "When did you begin to speak like that, half-wit?" He slowly smiled, she lowered her eyes and blushed. "Y-you're..." he cursed himself. Imagine a young man his age not being able to say the simplest statement! "You're beautiful when you blush." there he said it. He averted his eyes, taking a sudden interest in his shoes. "Ange..." she whispered beside him. 

"Why do you call me that?" he asked abruptly. The question obviously startled her, and then she just smiled. "Because that's what you are. You're...my angel. You make me happy." She silently argued with herself for blushing like some idiot every time she was around him. Why couldn't she control it? 

"You...make me happy too." he said quietly. Her eyes widened. Did that mean-?   
------------ 

I love her. I always have and I always will. And in death I still do. I may be able to create fame from my hands, but inside...my soul was dead and cold. But the fire within her spirit warmed me... 

Those days were the happiest in my life. But I should have learned...that nothing could last...especially not for me. I had been a fool. A weak fool. I wasn't able to protect her. Kouran had found out about my feelings for her, and detonated the bomb he had planted inside of her. That image is burned into my memory forever. As long as the scar on my face remains, I will always remember the time when she was taken so mercilessly from me. My rose. 

-----------   
"Kurei...my only wish was...to be with you forever..." her eyes were already blank, lacking the light which had always shone within them. She couldn't be gone...she was his rose. She would always be with him...yes...always with him. His power began to flow from around him, her body lifting into the air, "Yes. Yes we'll be together. Always." he said.   
----------- 

I lost her. I couldn't protect the one I loved again. She was the only thing that made me good. And she was gone. I couldn't bear it. I made her into my flame...so that she would be with me always, as was her wish. I wish I could have followed her, into death. But I couldn't. I was too weak to protect her, and I must suffer for it. 

Recca. You've won Recca, I hope you're happy. The same way you've always won over me, the way your mother won over my mother. You won. Strange that I should think of him at a time like this. Then again maybe everyone thinks of their greatest enemy at their death. 

Enemy? Was Recca really my enemy? What am I thinking of course he was. He took everything from me. Always, always he was the lucky one. He found a loving father didn't he? Ohka loved him more than me. The elders chose him over me. I hate you Recca. I hate you. 

.....but why...why do I feel...that I-...that you're not.... 

-----------   
"I gave you that wound, Recca." 

"Four hundred years ago, you and I were born in the same village." 

"We'll fight, Recca and I will destroy you." 

"I hate you Recca! I hate you! I hate you, I hate you!" 

"Why is it that he can do the impossible? Why is it that he could protect the ones that he loved and I can't?" 

NO.   
----------- 

I hate him, I hate him. I want to destroy him, crush him. Make him feel what I've felt for years, and what he's never experienced in his charmed life. I hate him. Why is it that he could protect his mother and his princess but I couldn't?! Was he truly stronger than me?! I HATE HIM! 

No....it's not...it's not him I hate. It's myself. I hate myself. I couldn't protect the ones I loved. I couldn't...I couldn't help them. It was my fault. I really am cursed. Everyone I ever loved...was killed. Because of me...they suffered. Mother...Kurenai... 

If I weren't already dead, I would kill myself. 

Who am I to hate Recca now? He was only doing what I would have done. What I wanted to do. To protect the ones he loved. I don't have the energy to hate him anymore. I don't want to destroy him...I just...I just want to be left alone. To not feel anymore. Life was too painful...and I had nothing to live for anymore. Everyone i ever cared for was gone. My mother, Kurenai...their voices..I can hear them. Are they calling for me? 

"Better than them..." 

"won't have to suffer..." 

"can't leave..." 

"don't want to see you hurt..." 

"only wanted to be with you..." 

"forever..." 

"forever..." 

"forever..." 

"I love you Kurei..." 

"...love you..." 

"my son..." 

It hurts...hearing the words they once said to me. Knowing that now...I am the cause of everything they have suffered. But I cant run from it. I have nowhere to run to. For the guilt is inside me. Death is my only solace now. Kurenai...mother...I'm coming. Wait for me. 

"Ange...no." 

**_THE END_**

or is it?   
  


Author's Excuses and Explanations:   
-Kurei could use his flame even before he made Kurenai into his special power. However I'm assuming he could only use it like Recca could before Recca found his fire dragons.   
-Since I don't have the manga and don't know much about Kurenai except she had long brown hair, and was compared to a rose, I've taken some liberties with her appearance and personality. She may have been described as sweet, but she had to have some spirit to beat up Kurei for destroying her flowers right? I like that. I like her. I like them both. I like them together. Yes this was before I finally found out about Kurenai slapping Kurei for destroying the flowers *scowls* so sue me.   
-I already said I don't have the manga and my memory sucks so if there are any mistakes in my retelling of Kurei's near death in the Hokage village, and how Tsukino found him, I apologize but I do have what is called artisticus licensus. hehehe. I love me.   
-this fic is open to continuation. After all, Kurei does end up helping Recca, so I'm assuming that in this time Kurei changes. And this fic is also open to changes and alteration later. I may rewrite it so that it may be better, instead of how it is now, written under great stress. 

And uh, SHAMELESS PLUG! Like Kurenai? Visit the only and first ever shrine to the lovely rose, [Honou no Tenshi][1]. Yes it should be honoo. *shrugs* Yes it's run by me *sweatdrop* 

   [1]: http://envy.nu/kurenai



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